The Magician's Bride
by Tiger Lily21
Summary: Oneshot. A more traditional fairy tale. Princess Sarah was cursed to be ugly. Her parents shut her away in a tower and forgot about her, but someone was watching her and loved her in spite of her looks.


**The Magician's Bride**

**or**

**The Ugly Princess**

**by: Tiger Lily21**

**A/N: This story is written in a more traditional fairy tale style than my normal stories, but I hope you enjoy it all the same. I had a lot of fun writing it. :-)**

* * *

Once upon a time in a kingdom far, far away there lived a king and queen who desperately wanted a child. Alas, it seemed impossible, until one day when the queen met a mysterious old woman in the royal rose garden. No one was allowed in there except the king and queen. Naturally the queen thought the woman was trespassing. She was about to call the guards and have her taken away when the woman spoke. 

"Oh gentle queen, do not send me away. I only came to get a few flowers. I will grant you a wish if you give me one. I can give you anything your heart desires."

The queen thought of her wish to have a child. This woman must be a fairy. Surely a rose was a small price to pay for a baby. She would have given the fairy anything she wanted. Therefore she said, "Take as many roses as you wish, Grandmother, only grant me a child. It is my dearest wish."

The fairy plucked a rose from a bush. She slipped it into the pocket of her cloak. Then she pulled out a flask of clear liquid and handed it to the queen. "Drink this before you go to bed tonight. In a few days, go to the royal doctor. He will tell you that you are with child. When the baby is born, do not forget to invite me to the christening so that I may bless your child. Then she will prosper and have a long life."

The queen nodded eagerly and thanked the fairy. That night the queen drank the potion, but she forgot to tell her husband what had happened. A few days later she went to the royal physician who informed her that she was with child. Nine months passed. The queen's time came. She gave birth to a daughter and named her Sarah. A grand party was planned for the christening of the little princess. The queen invited as many people as she could think of, but she forgot the old fairy.

The party went well for a few hours. Everyone said how beautiful Princess Sarah was. However, when it came time to give gifts, the party was interrupted. The old fairy appeared in a cloud of smoke. She was no longer a kindly old woman. She was a wizened hag. "You broke your promise!" she bellowed, pointing a gnarled finger at the queen. "Now you will pay the penalty!"

She turned on the baby in the cradle. Stretching out her hand, she spoke a terrible curse. "You will be ugly all your days," she said, "and you will marry someone as ugly as yourself!"

Immediately the princess's golden curls disappeared completely, leaving her bald. Her lovely blue eyes turned a muddy grayish-brown. Her face became thin with a pointed chin. The fairy disappeared in a cloud of foul green smoke, leaving the king and queen with their ugly daughter.

The king and queen decided that the best thing to do was to lock Princess Sarah away. So she was placed in the tallest tower of the castle. As she grew older, her hair grew in again but it was dull brown and straight, nothing like the curls she'd once had. She had only one servant, an ancient woman named Elmira who was practically blind.

Despite her looks, Sarah grew up to be a kind and gentle girl. She had very little to do in the tower but when she learned to read she loved it. She requested more and more books. Her parents gave them to her grudgingly, taking the price of each book out of her monthly allowance so that eventually Elmira had to tell her to stop. Clothes and food were more important than books. Sarah didn't want to give up reading, so she learned to sew. Her monthly orders were soon split between books and cloth for new gowns. Between reading and sewing, Sarah was almost happy. There was only one thing she wanted, and it was something her parents couldn't supply. She wanted a friend.

In her sixteenth year, a messenger came to the castle. He asked to speak to the king and queen. They agreed. "What do you want?" the king asked.

The messenger said, "I bring you greetings from my master, the Lord of the Silver Forest. He has heard of your daughter Sarah and wishes to ask for her hand in marriage."

The king and queen looked at each other. They had never heard of the Lord of the Silver Forest. Still, it would be a relief to get rid of her. They had had another daughter by this time, as well as a son. Both of them had been blessed by the old fairy and were good-looking and happy. Most people in the kingdom had forgotten poor Sarah. What was the point of keeping her? If the Lord of the Silver Forest wanted her, so be it.

They told the messenger to go back to his master and tell him they agreed. Then they gave him a small trunk of copper coins to take back with him as Sarah's dowry. The messenger bowed and left the castle, saying that he would be back in a month to bring the princess to his master.

Sarah was surprised when her parents came to see her. From the grim looks on their faces, she knew something was wrong. "What's happened?" she asked. "What's the matter?"

"You are going to be married," her mother said, carefully looking over Sarah's shoulder instead of at her face. "The Lord of the Silver Forest wishes to take you as his bride and we have agreed. You will leave in a month."

Then she and the king left. Sarah sank down on her bed and tried to think. Marriage—she had thought about it before, but never dreamed that someone would actually want to marry her. Who was this man, the Lord of the Silver Forest? Why did he want her of all people? She knew that she was ugly. The Lord of the Silver Forest must be insane, to want to marry an ugly princess. She would be marrying a crazy man!

A month passed quickly. Sarah made her own wedding dress and packed her other dresses and her favorite books in a bag. On the day the messenger returned, she left the tower for the first time in her life.

The messenger smiled at her when she reached the bottom of the stairs. "You look lovely, Princess," he said. "My master will be pleased with you."

Sarah didn't reply. She was quite sure that both the messenger and his master were mad. Even so, she followed him out of the castle. He helped her into a carriage and they drove off. For a time Sarah was distracted from the thought of her fiancé by the sights flashing by outside the carriage window. This was the first time she had seen the world outside the tower. She marveled at the trees and flowers and the beautiful blue sky above. Yet as much as she liked what she saw, it only made her feel even uglier.

Eventually she fell asleep. She woke only when the carriage stopped. The messenger opened the door. "We have arrived, my lady. My master awaits you in the castle. He is very eager to meet you."

Sarah gasped as he helped her out. They were standing in front of a beautiful castle. The messenger led her through the front doors and into an entrance hall that was equally beautiful. As she looked at it, she felt more and more out of place. How could a man who lived in such a beautiful place possibly want to marry someone as ugly as her? A tear trickled slowly down her cheek as she thought about it.

"Why are you crying?" The voice, a gentle tenor, came from the marble staircase. Sarah looked up to see a tall figure standing on the top step. He wore black clothes and a black cloak embroidered with silver stars. The hood of the cloak completely covered his face. He walked slowly down to her, limping slightly. When he reached her, he wiped the tear from her face with a pale hand. Then he spoke again.

"Hello, Sarah."

"Hello," she said. She wondered why he covered his face. As if he had read her mind, he pushed back the hood of his cloak. His face was as pale as his hands and covered with jagged scars. His nose was large and crooked, as if it had been broken once or twice. His hair was dark but hung limply around his face. He was as ugly as she was!

"Who are you?" she asked.

"I am the Lord of the Silver Forest," he said. "My name is Aiden. I am a magician. I have been watching you for several years now. I feel I know you, though we've only just met. I hope you don't mind my spying on you."

Sarah felt a blush rise in her cheeks. She lowered her head. "I don't mind, sir."

He lifted her chin with one hand. "Aiden," he corrected her.

"Aiden," she repeated, and smiled.

He returned the smile and took her hand in his. "Give your bag to Oliver," he said, nodding to the messenger. "He'll bring it to your rooms. Meanwhile I'll give you a tour of your new home. Would you like to start with the library? I believe you'll like it."

Sarah gave Oliver the bag. He bowed and left them. Aiden squeezed her hand and led her down the hall. The library he showed her was filled with more books than she had ever imagined. She could have spent all her time in it, but Aiden had other rooms to show her.

They spent the rest of the day together, and all the days following. Sarah grew to love Aiden as he loved her and after a month they were officially married. The old fairy's curse was fulfilled, but not in the way she had intended. The fairy had meant her words to make Sarah miserable for the rest of her days. Instead, by marrying someone as ugly as she was, she found the one person in the world who thought she was absolutely beautiful.


End file.
